Am looking to start carving soon and was hoping someone could help me out with my research on authentic/ traditional tiki designs. Any links to web pages (w/ pictures?), book titles, anything would be great.

I've always thought this could be a good Idea for a thread.
Pictures of traditional carving styles to be used as reference for everyone on here.
Many times I've wanted to carve a certain style but aren't sure how certain parts look.
Whether we just lump everything in together and you just scroll down to find the style that you want. Or have a breif description eg. Name,place of origin, god of...? whith each picture(s), but keep the thread free just for reference without discussion.
If anyone else thinks this is a good idea I'll start a thread
_________________www.cheekytiki.comhttp://cheekytikiuk.blogspot.com/

This is a fabulous idea. Let's do it. Getting really into authentic works myself lately. Great educational oppurtunity for all of us.

Right now, I'm exploring the books by Terence Barrow. Barrow does a nice job showing some hard to find pics, at least in the 2 books I have. Not as many photographs as Meyer's "Oceanic Arts". However, the books are very specialized and includes old fashioned engravings of historical times, which I think is a good thing. Will give a review and post some pics after I do some reading.

Yes, a wonderful post idea! We were just discussing last night while at the Lucky Tiki that many of the elements that would be present in a tiki art curriculum one might find at a good art school are here -- lots of how-to with the technique and the wood you can use -- but the big piece that's often missing is the art history, a look back at the tiki masters of the past, and what their influences were. Naturally, it all goes back to actual Oceanic Art.

Wow, wasn't expecting all this interest in my research. Thanks everybody. Have tried GOOGLE image search and have certainly found ton's of great City of Refuge tiki pics and moai pics. Was hoping that somewhere there are pics of tikis representing the "major" hawaiian/ polynesian gods.

Hawaiian Sculpture documents most known extant indigenous carvings of the human figure and identifies their location in public and private collections. The over 164 illustrations illuminate the wooden sculpture of artists whose names are unknown but who were brilliant by any standard.

Yes, this Is an interesting thread. I think it would be an Excellent idea to have a thread showing historical images of original tikis along with their names.
Every carver adds his own influence and it is difficult to say exactly What makes up a Ku or a Lono. It would be an Excellent reference for new as well as Old carvers. Lets DO IT!
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In the esoteric tradition LONO represented the mental consciousness, or what in modern terms could be called the "conscious mind." In Hawaiian culture, hair is a symbol of thought. On this LONO figure the hair is piled high on top and does not extend all the way to the ground. This symbolizes imagination and abstract thinking, which is not necessarily based on direct physical experience.

In the esoteric tradition KU represented the body consciousness, or what in modern terms could be called the "subconscious." In Hawaiian culture, hair is a symbol of thought. On this KU figure the hair is short on top and extends all the way to the ground. This symbolized memory thinking, which is based on direct physical experience.

Kanaloa

Name: Kanaloa
Origin: Hawaiian Islands
Artist: Unknown
Description: In ancient Hawaiian religion, KANALOA was a god of the ocean, and certain types of healing, crafts and other cultural practices. In legend he was a companion to KANE, the creator god. As such he also had the ability to cause freshwater springs to gush forth from solid rock when he struck it with his staff.

In the esoteric tradition KANALOA represented a state of total confidence, or what in modern terms could be called "inner authority." In Hawaiian culture, hair is a symbol of thought. On this KANALOA figure the hair is piled high on top and extends all the way to the ground. This symbolizes the integration of imagination and memory, or the integration of body, mind and spirit.

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_________________"Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness."
-Pablo Picasso

I've actually enjoyed using Night of the Tiki for some ideas. It's a great book, with nice big pictures, and was reasonably priced. I'm glad I looked at this thread though, cause I'm definitely putting the Oceanic Arts book on my Amazon wish list (hinting that the wife should buy it for my upcoming birthday or something....)

"Akua" is a generic hawaiian term for "tiki god". I'm not sure why tikmaster is using the name "Tiki Akua" for one of its statues.

Anyway, here's the best essay I could find on the Hawaiian Gods and their stories. The only ones that I've found definitive authentic images of are "Ku", "Lono", and "Kanaloa". If anyone can find and post authentic images of any of te others, that would be great.

In the beginning in Hawaiian mythology, Po was a vast, empty land, a dark abyss where only one life form dwelled. This was the spirit of Keawe. A single light shown through the darkness of Po-a flame holding the energy of creation.

In this chaotic vortex, Keawe evolved order. He opened his great calabash and flung the lid into the air. As it unfolded, it became the huge canopy of blue sky. From his calabash, Keawe drew an orange disk, hanging it from the sky to become the sun.

Next Keawe manifested himself as Na Wahine, a female divinity considered his daughter. In addition, he became Kane, his own son, also known as Eli or Eli-Eli, who was the male generative force of creation. In the Kumulipo, the best known of the Hawaiian creation chants, the feats of Eli-Eli are detailed in rhythmic litany.

Na Wahine and Kane mated spiritually to produce a royal family, who became additional primary gods worshipped by the Hawaiian people. In ancient chants and rituals, three sons: Ku, Lono, and Kanaloa, along with Kane are the four major Hawaiian gods. Keawe made Kane the ruler of natural phenomena, such as the earth, stones, fresh water. Most importantly, Ku as Kukailimoku was god of war, but he also reigned over woodlands and crops, and in various forms was worshipped by craftsmen. Bird catchers and feather workers appealed to Kuhuluhulumanu, fishermen to Ku'ula, sorcerers to Kukoae, for example.

Kanaloa was responsible for the southern Pacific Ocean and as such was god of seamen and lord of fishermen. Lono, as lord of the sun and of wisdom, caused the earth to grow green. As a god of medicine, he had a particular interest in keeping herbs and medicinal plants flourishing. Lono was the god who presided over the makahiki season when war ceased and taxes were paid to the ali'i.

Kane and Na Wahine also had daughters. Among them, Laka was the goddess of hula; Hina was the mother of Maui who pulled the Hawaiian Islands from the ocean; and Kapo was the goddess of the South Pacific and was largely worshipped on Maui. Among the major divinities was the goddess Papa, queen of nature, and the man she married, called Wakea. In legend, Papa and Wakea's first child was born deformed like a taro root. From the child's grave, the first taro plant grew to furnish sustenance to the rest of the human race, which had its origins in this first couple.

The twelfth deity was Milu, lord of the spirit world and lord of Ka-pa'a-he'o, where souls who had departed their sleeping or unconscious mortal body might end up if they were not pardoned by their 'aumakua (personal gods) during their wanderings. One of several entrances to the barren, arid land of Milu was thought to be through a pit situated in the mouth of Waipi'o Valley on the Big Island.

Each man worshipped a deity, or akua, that represented his profession. Gods existed for bird snarers, canoe makers, robbers, kapa makers, fishermen, etc. Most farmers revered Lono, who was considered a benign god. When crops ripened, farmers performed religious services to the gods by building a fire to honor whichever god they worshipped, be it Ku, Kane, Lono, or Kanaloa. During the ceremony, food was cooked and portioned out to each man who sat in a circle around an idol of that particular god. A kahuna offered the food to heaven. After the ceremony was completed, the people could eat freely of the cooked food, but each time new food was cooked in the imu (underground oven), a bit of it had to be offered to the god again before the common man could eat.

Interestingly, kanaka maoli, commoners, could freely worship their personal gods, voicing their own prayers. For the ali'i (royalty), however, a kahu-akua, who was a priest or keeper of the idol, uttered the prayer. The king was the only one allowed to command the construction of a luakini (sacrificial) heiau to honor Kukailimoku, the war god, which required sacrificial offerings of human life during its construction. Lesser chiefs could build mapele, stone temples, to invoke the blessing of gods like Lono who could insure abundant crops. These temples were surrounded with posts carved with images, while inside idols carved of wood, stone or sea urchin spines, or fashioned of feathers attached to woven i'e i'e netting represented various gods. Oracle towers that jutted 20 feet into the sky held offerings made to the gods on wooden platforms far above the ground.

The old gods were disavowed just prior to the coming of Christian missionaries in 1820. Temple idols were pushed over and destroyed, but often commoners were faced with the problem of what to do with stone images that represented various gods, since neglect of the idols might cause unknown disasters. One stone god literally re-surfaced in 1885. An old man who lived with his son and a brother and sister near a fish pond in Kawaihae on the Big Island, woke them all one night, commanding his son to catch three fish from the pond. The girl was told to chew a mouthful of awa and her brother was told to climb a tree for coconuts. The old man directed them to dig in a certain place, where they uncovered a stone idol. The old man circled the idol's neck with coconuts, laid the fish in front of it and poured the awa over its mouth. He told the three young people the god's name was Kane; then he predicted his own death. In three days he was gone.

The stone idol is now displayed at Bishop Museum on O'ahu, an intriguing reminder of the mana, the power, the Hawaiian gods once embodied. Today, though the gods may have disappeared from every day life, in many Hawaiian households, they will never be completely forgotten.

Note: Varying legends and oral histories exist regarding Hawaiian gods and religions. Information for this article was gathered from: Children of the Rainbow by Leinani Melville, Hawaiian Antiquities by David Malo, The Works of the People of Old by Samual Kamakau, and Arts and Crafts of Hawai'i (Religion) by Peter H. Buck."_________________"Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness."
-Pablo Picasso